Apparatus for drying and conditioning



March 10, A1942. B. M. JONES APPARATUS Foa-DRYINGAND CONDITIONING Fild sept. 5, 1939 I PIIIIIII NN.. Wm.

////V///JM/ WKN WN.. N

Nm v//////`-07////////// I, NNI m QN 72062@ n'es Patented Mar. l0, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND t N'DITTIONING Bliss MQ Jones, Orange, Mass., assignor to Rodney Hunt Machine Company, a corporation of Massachusetts Orange, Mass.,

Application September 5, 1939, Serial No. 293,372

4 Claims.

pills and pharmaceutical supplies, tobacco andother vegetable products, and samples of these and other objects.

When dyeing large batches of c loth, yarn, etc., textile mills must take samples from the batch at intervals, in order to determine whether the dyeing operationl has proceeded long enough to obtain the color or shade desired. The samples must be completely dried and brought into balance with the atmosphere or room humidity, so that the true color of the sample can be seen. The longer the period of time spent in drying and conditioning the sample, the more error in final color is made, since the batch of material being dyed has naturally been in the dye that much longer than the 'dry sample, and therefore the batch has absorbed more dye than the dry sample.

Hence it is clear that speed in drying and conditioning the sample is greatly desired, since the quicker the sample can be used for comparison, the less error In matching colors is made.

Heretofore it has been the practice to locate the sample stationarilyand'to Ablow or circulate heated air aboutit until it is dry, then wave the sample in the air, by hand, for about fifteen minutes until the hcat has left it. At this point the sample is in dried and conditioned state for matching, but at least twenty or thirty minutes has elapsed, and meanwhile the batch being dyed has absorbed that much more dye. The objects of this invention include the provision of apparatus to obviate the diiculties above mentioned; the provision of apparatus whereby the time of drying and conditioning materials may be reduced from twenty to thirty minutes to a few seconds; the provisionof ap-` paratus wherein articles may be moved through heated air at very high speed and in a direction perpendicular to the main line of force of the air, the air being thereby forced through the articles (such as cloth. yarn, etc.); and the prov'ision of such apparatus wherein after the quick drying, the articles are forced through unheated air at high speed to be brought into balance with room atmosphere.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the device with parts in section; 5 Fig. 2 is a view in section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing means for holding a cloth sample on a screen element.

In the drawing, the numeral I0 indicates a portable box-like enclosure having sides I2, top and bottom elements I4, and front and rear Walls I6 and I8, respectively. The front wall extends only part way to the top element I4, and at the top of the front wall there is hinged a door ,20 whereby to completely close-the box.

J ournalled in the center of the rear wall I8 is a shaft 22 driven by a motor 24 which motor may be supported by'any convenient means, as by a bearing. Shaft 22l extends into the box and carries therewith a sleeve 26 of any suitable material, such as wood or metal. A number of L- shaped rods 28 of material similar to that of the sleeve are anchored at one end in the outer end of sleeve 26, as shown in Fig. 2, and have their other ends secured to a largebut light weight disc 30, said disc being keyed or otherwise secured to shaft 22 at the inner end of sleeve 26. Extending forwardly from the disc are a plurality of rods 32, equal in number to the L-shaped rods 28, but each rod 32 is prisitioned somewhat in advance of its corresponding rod 28, in the direction of rotation of the disc, as shown in Fig. l.

The above described structure provides a rotary device with supports made up of rods'28, 32, for the reception of Wire screens 34, attached between each corresponding pair of the rods. These screens are seen to be tilted forward in the direction of rotation of the device, due to the relative positions of the rods, and are secured 40 thereto by any convenient or desired means.

Conveniently located in the box or enclosure I0 are electric or other heating units 36 for heating the air in the box. These units are shown only generally as their construction and operation are well known.

. In the operation of the device, the samples of cloth, or other material, are fastened toi-the forward faces of the wire` screens 34 by means of pins, clips, or other convenient or desired means. The door 20 is closed, and the heater elements and vmotor 24 are turned on. supposing the radius of the disc 30 to be about 6 inches, and the motor speed to be 1700 R. P. M., the approximate speed of the sampleswill be 5100 feet per minute. This high speed will force the heated air directly through the cloth or other material and in a few seconds the material Willbe dry. Then the door 2D is opened, the heater elements are turned off, and in a few more seconds all the heat has been forced out of the material and it has come to balance with room heat and humidity, and is ready for comparison. The inclination of the screens prevents the air from slipping past the ends thereof as would be the case if the screens were radial, and therefore the largest possible amount of air is forced through the material. In effect, the screens 34 meet the air perpendicularly to the force thereof, instead of at an angle.

Drying depends on two factors primarily-heat and amount of air movement. In the conventional dryer using fans, the movement of air `is relatively low, and to approximate the result obtained by this invention, i. e., the equivalent of 5100 feet of air per minute, in the case of a disc of 6 inch radius, such a large fan would be necessary as to be prohibitive in cost. Also, only one or two samples can be dried at one time by a fan, but this invention allows four (as shown) or more to be processed at once.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof,I do not wish to be limited to a pervious material holding means secured to and betweensaid elements.

2. In a drying and conditioning apparatus of the class described, a rotary carrier comprising a journalled support, means to rotate said support at high speed, two rod-like elements extending from said support substantially parallel to the axis of said carrier and at differentdistances from said axis, said elements being out of radial alignment, the element farther from said axis beinglocated forwardly of the other element in the direction of rotation of said carrier, and a pervious material support mounted on and between said elements.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a box-like enclosure having a door in one wall, a shaft adapted to be driven at a high speed Journalled in the opposite wall and extending into the enclosure, a collar fixed to the shaft lfor rotation therewith, a disc fixed to the shaft, a plurality of rods extending from said disc so as to overlie the collar, certain of said rods being located closer to the collar than the other rods and having angled ends extending to and secured to the collar, and a wire screen fixed between pairs of said rods.

4. In a drying and conditioning apparatus, a rotary support, means to rotate said support at high speed, pervious sample holding means on the support, and arranged parallel to the rotative axis thereof but non-radially with respect thereto, said holding means having a leading edge located in advance of a trailing edge in the direction of rotation of said support, said leading edge 'being at a greater distance from said axis than said trailing edge, and means adapted to secure l a'sample to said holding' means.

. BLISS M. JONES. 

